


Much Ado About Nuffink

by apollonious



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hiccstrid - Freeform, Pregnancy, low-stakes domesticity, saturday is dragon day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-26 16:16:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21376945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apollonious/pseuds/apollonious
Summary: Hiccup and Astrid choose a name for their second child. Well, Astrid does. Hiccup might take some convincing.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 87





	Much Ado About Nuffink

When Hiccup finally gets home, it is rather later than he promised Astrid it would be when he left that morning. He trudges up the front stairs of the house in the rapidly falling darkness, scratching at his newly thickening beard. He is so sore that he swears he can feel it in the foot he hasn’t had for more than a decade. The soreness fades, though, as he opens the front door and sees the tableau inside. 

Astrid is asleep in her rocking chair by the fire, her knitting spread out over her rounded belly. Before her disappearance, Valka had been a skilled knitter, though no-one was as surprised as she at how quickly the skill had come back once she started using it again. Since then, she’s been teaching Astrid, who does not have quite the same natural talent as Valka. She is definitely improving, though, Hiccup thinks, looking at her work in the dying light of the fire. 

Stepping gently over the prone form of Zephyr where she lies in the middle of the floor—she giggles, and he pretends not to hear—he follows his nose to the kitchen, where a pot of mildly burned fish stew is bubbling over the fire. He ladles himself a bowl and, letting his portion cool a bit, banks the fire down to the merest coals, just enough to keep the stew warm. 

Stew in hand, he returns to the main room. Zephyr has been watching the flames. As he enters, her eyes snap shut, though again he pretends not to notice. He sits in the chair beside Astrid’s and digs his spoon into his food. The stew is hearty and filling as he eats it, and if it’s a little burnt, well, that’s his own fault. It’s far from the first time his dinner has had to wait for him. 

Hiccup sets aside the empty bowl and regards his daughter. His sweet, gentle breeze of a girl. Zephyr lies on her stomach, her face turned away from him, more still than she has ever been while asleep. She is so clever, that’s already apparent, and even at not-quite-three, she’s begun to show instincts that will serve her well when she leads New Berk.

For now, though, it is time she gets to bed.

Hiccup gives a theatrical sigh and stands, his prosthetic leg squeaking. He crosses the room and scoops up Zephyr. “Come on, sleepy girl,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss into her hair. “Time for bed.”

She stiffens slightly in his arms, and he can feel her wanting to protest that she’s not sleepy. But that would be giving up the game, so she stays silent, and when he tucks her in with the little stuffed Nadder that was once his, her eyes are indeed beginning to droop. 

“Daddy?” Zephyr says as he turns to leave.

Hiccup turns back to her. “Yeah?”

“I love you.”

He grins. “I love you too, Zephyr. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” replies her little voice as he shuts the door.

Hiccup stumps back downstairs, sitting down heavily beside Astrid once more. He wonders if he will have to carry her up to bed too, and is figuring that he can probably just about manage it when her eyes open. Seeing him, she gives him a tired smile.

Her smile has always had a way of undoing him, and this one is no exception. He leans over and kisses her, resting a hand on her belly, and is rewarded by a sharp nudge against his palm. He pulls back, delight written across his face. “Did you feel that?” he asks.

Astrid nods. “He likes to kick at night.”

Hiccup settles back in his seat. “How can you be sure it’s a he?”

She shrugs. “I just am.”

Hiccup isn’t about to argue with her. “I’m sorry I got home late. Snotlout was being—well, Snotlout, and it took forever to get the new winches set up.”

“It’s okay,” Astrid says. “I know how he can be.” She looks around. “Did Zephyr go to bed by herself?”

Hiccup shakes his head. “She was sleeping on the rug when I got here.” He places careful emphasis on the word “sleeping” to make it clear she was doing nothing of the sort, and he and Astrid both chuckle.

For a moment, they are quiet. Then Astrid says, “I’ve been thinking about names.”

“Oh?” says Hiccup. “What have you got?”

“I was thinking—Nuffink.”

It is as though Hiccup has been struck in the gut. He recoils, trying to fight down the visceral negative reaction.

“You don’t like it?” Astrid asks. 

Hiccup shrugs. “It’s just—you know how long it took me to come to terms with my name. I don’t want to subject my kid to that same struggle.”

Astrid nods. “I get that. Do you mind if I explain my thinking?”

Hiccup nods slowly. “Okay.”

Astrid looks at the fire. “It’s just—when we had our dragons, people would tell you over and over again that you were nothing without Toothless.”

“I recall,” says Hiccup, and they exchange a smile.

“But the thing is,” Astrid continues, “you always proved them wrong. And you’re still proving them wrong—even after all these years without your dragon.”

“And what am I without my dragon?” Hiccup asks, taking her hand.

She meets his eyes. “A capable and dedicated chief, a fantastic husband, and a devoted father. The most stubborn, knuckle-headed Viking I’ve ever met, and a warrior so tenacious I’m glad I’ll never have to face you in battle.”

“Oh, come on,” Hiccup says. “We both know you could take me—even like this.” He gestures at her belly. 

Astrid laughs. “My point is, our son will be all that too. He will be everything his father is, without a dragon. Even when your enemies saw you as nothing, you had everything you needed to defeat him. And so will he. He will be just like you, only without a dragon—and so he will be Nuffink.”

Almost despite himself, Hiccup can feel the idea growing on him. “I have to say, a lot of that was knowing I had you,” he says. Astrid squeezes his hand. “But there’s one difference—we both know Zephyr’s going to be chief. Chieftess. Whatever.”

Astrid laughs. “Do we?”

Hiccup nods emphatically. “Even if she wasn’t the oldest, she’s got more leadership potential in her little finger than I’ve ever had.”

Astrid looks at him levelly. “I have literally seen people jump off a cliff because you asked them to.”

Hiccup feels himself blushing. “That was to rescue their dragons. Besides, can you name anyone in this village who wouldn’t jump off a cliff for Zephyr?”

“Snotlout,” Astrid says dryly, and they both crack up laughing. 

“Will you at least think about it?” Astrid asks when they have sobered. 

Hiccup shuts his eyes for a moment before nodding. “I’ll think about it.” He stands. “Ready for bed?”

Astrid nods. “I’ll put the fire out in here if you take the kitchen. I see you’ve eaten.”

With a peck on the cheek, Hiccup picks up his bowl and takes it back to the kitchen. The coals have mostly gone out; he spreads them around with his metal foot and watches as they dim to gray ash.

When he returns to Astrid, she is standing in the delicate, dying light of the fire. Her knitting has been neatly folded and placed in its basket. Hiccup walks up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. “Gods, you’re beautiful,” he murmurs against her neck.

She relaxes against his chest, hugging his arms. They stand like that for a long moment, warm and comfortable as they watch the fire die, before she pulls away to lead him up to bed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you'd like.


End file.
